Organize your Stuff: Week 11/12 (round 5): Stickers & WOYWW 137

What!?! Is it Wednesday again? I guess that it What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) time again! To see other desks, spaces, and cool crafty goodness, pop over to Julia’s Stamping Ground and peek around the world!

Time has slipped away from us, as the Pacific Northwest has seen it’s first snow this weekend… all weekend. OK, since Sunday! LOL! Are you sure it is Wednesday, because we still have not seen a plow or a school bus. Hence, the lack of a Monday post. We were on the boot and glove brigade duty! LOL! (The POW is pretty sure that we are almost out of our hot chocolate reserves. Armageddon better not come tomorrow, or we will be woefully short on the non-perishables).

So, how did Creative Me leave the desk today (Ok, on Sunday…before the one inch of Snow-mageddon)? Not too bad actually.

Since some of you have asked, yes, those are all folders of clear stamps in their double decker baby milk crates. Creative Me is a total stamp addict, and it makes it easier to grab them when they are so close!

Also, since PA Me got us distracted by the shiny fluffiness outside, we owe you a peek at our sticker storage. We have two 3-ring binders with clear page protectors stuffed with stickers. Post it notes serve as moveable tabs for the sections. (That was OCD Me’s idea).

But what did we create?

Our design team entry for Tuesday Trio’s Sketch #102: Winter could not have come at a more apropos time. Snowman anyone?

As for the family, Fabulous Spouse is wrapping up his training with the “big guns”. The boys are green with jealousy. It will not be long now, and he will actually be overseas, and a little harder to get pictures from. Fabulous man that he is though, we are sure that he will come through for us! (*hint, hint, Baby!*)

Saturday was our first basketball day. Illusive Middle Child was the team ball thrower inner (what position is that? We never played and must not have been paying that close of attention during practice). We think that it was because he was the tallest on his team by almost a head.

Girl Friday hopped and bopped and totally abandoned her assigned person to chase the ball every which way. She LOVED it. Ironically, she was the smallest on her team! Afterwards, Illusive Middle Child was convinced that his team lost (because they were not aggressive enough) and Girl Friday was convinced that hers won (because they scored lots of baskets). Neither kept score. So, we guess that it just is a matter of perspective.

Oh, and this is how we spend our weekend evenings, relaxing on Skype with Fabulous Spouse and trying to conquer the world (or at least getting out our frustrations on a few unsuspecting cultures) in a friendly game of Civilization V with him. Gotta love a man who lets you conquer his world! (Well, unless he manages to conquer mine! LOL!)

Off to hop and visit the World! Won’t you join us?

Organize your Stuff: Week 11 (round 4): Stickers Part 2

Okay! Stickers in a layout. We can do this! The problem is, that out of sight, out of mind. What OCD Me sees as an awesome organization system a la third grade sticker book (see previous post for picture)… PA Me sees as a Jedi mind trick which just screams “These are not the embellishments that you are looking for”… and we forget that they are here.

So Creative Me decided that we would take the Creative bull by the horns and get it done. The Honor Courage and Commitment and the service definition are stickers. Hope that you enjoy!

Organize your Stuff: Week 11 (round 4): Stickers Part 1 & WOYWW

Here is our WOYWW work desk. Getting ready for another Iraq layout.

PA Me has reminded us that we also need to cue up some family pictures at Costco so that Creative Me does not fall to far behind with all of this end of year overscheduling…er… fun for our three kids!

Speaking of...here is last night's Middle School Band Concert photo op with the ever present Pacific North West Rainbow (That is the real reason that Seattle is called the Emerald City...not so much for the super green trees, but the plethora of rainbows...almost daily this time of year...which OCD Me reminds us means that you must have rain.  Thank you, Mr. Wizard.).

Anythow...to see the rest of the desks, click on over to the Stamping Ground!

Also, here is my Design Team Card for Tuesday Trio (Sketch #70) Summertime. We had our first real Summer day here in the Pacific Northwest this weekend. We had honest to goodness sunshine, and it almost hit 80! Both Illusive Middle Child and Girl Friday had BBQs and the Oldest Child had a fabulous, rain free… and therefore sunburn-ful Boy Scout Camporee weekend.

Question of the week: Do you still use stickers (other than alphabets)? Or rub-ons? Or have they been replaced by stamps (week 13)?

Our Sticker Albums

We have found that over time, the Inner Hoarder has amassed a large well…horde… of stickers. However, Creative Me does not use them very often. Unless we have just printed photos and gone to the Scrap Store specifically to pick out stuff, our stickers just hang around until Girl Friday eventually is gifted them. While this is a boon for Girl Friday, it is not economical. The POW is proud to report that since last round we have not purchased any non-alpha stickers that did not go immediately onto a layout or project! (That IS progress!) Now if only the same could be said of buttons… LOL!

Organize your Stuff: Week 11 (round 3): Stickers Part 2

This is my second layout for the week-Girl Friday getting her ears pierced & going to Rainforest Cafe to celebrate.  She has had to wait until kindergarten to get the deed done-so that she will appreciate that we think she is a big girl now, and she will remember how much it hurts and not let her ears close up.  Creative me was glad that it was sticker week, because otherwies we would not have found the froggie kisses sticker (on journaling spot) to inspire this LO.

Have you ever organized something, only to realize that the solution was only marginally better than the problem. Like when company comes , and the entire contents of your family room are in your hall closet… then you realize that your guest wants to see that thing that you put in the closet first… hmmmm… that’s how my stickers were living. Last round, I found them, I corralled them like the Red Bull leading the Unicorns to the sea (Netflix shout out for the animated Last Unicorn with soundtrack by America), and there they sat unenjoyed, and being piled up more and more.

Like the magical and semi-imaginary creature that she is, OCD Me rescued these trapped stickers (Yeah OCD Me!) from their imprisonment in a 12x12 Iris case so that they could share their magic with the world again… yes, it did involve a lot of talking to my cat (who never did give me a straight answer either) and the memory of wine to find the time to get this done, but OCD Me was resourceful.

Since PA Me has stalled out Ideas twice now, the 3 inch D-ring binders from round 2 were still empty. OCD Me sorted all of the stickers into categories, and then put them in the binder in 8.5x11 page protectors, and used mini post-its for the categories.

Sample categories are as follows:

Valentines/Love
St. Patrick’s Day
Spring
Vacation
Camping
Beach
4th of July/ Patriotic
School
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Christmas/Winter
Phrases
Frames/Borders
Florishes & other

Next week is ribbons, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and kids home from school… Wish me luck! Oh, and I have Italian and Giada for my Kitchen Keepsakes! Off to shop!

Organize your Stuff: Week 11 (round 3): Stickers Part 1

This week all the other stickers that were ignored last week! Whether you love them or hate them, stickers are a staple of the scrapbooking world.  When you're not looking they multiply...and multiply... and then invite their cousins. The big question is, how to sort them? By color? By theme? By manufacturer?

This is an area that I am actually eager to attack! Here was my results last round.  How I am going to attack the stickers now is under debate… but the POW is in negotiations as we speak. I did use Alpha stickers for the title on the recipe card further down.

Well, all of my personalities were in a super happy place this weekend! I went to CKC-Seattle and took a bunch of classes and learned a bunch of new techniques! It was AMAZING! Thank goodness that I was on a budget, or Inner Hoarder would have just gone to town with all the great shopping at the vendor’s Fair. The make and takes were just as awesome as the classes, and I already have a wish list for next year!

Here is the layout that I did for Kitchen Keepsakes Challenge. The theme for this was Ace of Cakes… and due to the quick turn around time… Fabulous Spouse made my cake (and took the pictures)! Ace of Cakes is about cakes with attitude rather than how to cook them, so Fabulous Spouse dug into his repertoire and brought his “A” game. Here is his awesome Tres Leche cake (recipe courtesy of Alton Brown). It may not have fondant figurines, but it tastes …mmmmmmm….

In Duff spirit, I brought out my aces and my scrapbook tools.  Like Tim the Tool Man, I used "more power" to get to work!  The goal was to bring this layout to the next level, but also not make something that was too bulky that I could not keep it in the kitchen.

My base page is from the Paper Loft, and I masked and glimmer misted it (new technique for me from CKC). Then, I used an old technique to apply layers of clear embossing powder on the playing cards (also from the Paper Loft), refrigerated the pieces, then cracked and inked them. Instant antique for pennies!

You too can use this to make any sticker look like aged ephemera!  Looking forward to showing you my progress at the end of the week!

Ta Dah!

Organize your Stuff Challenge: Week 11 Stickers and Rub On's

Well, this week was stickers and rub on's.  As I have alluded to in the past, and will become embarrassingly evident when we hit stamps week, I am a stamp girl, and have been since the late '90's (yes, I am that old/young).  I do have a few though...  Okay, maybe a few more than that.  Girl Friday was more than willing to help me purge though.  Inner Hoarder went back to her corner to rock this week, because there is nothing more devistating to her than letting go of a sheet of Sandylion or Mrs Grossmans from 1999, that she knows that she will need tomorrow...or someday... and Girl Friday has used them ALL in less than 4.2 seconds on one piece of paper, that she then cut up, glued on top of itself, then (as a well trained Pacific Northwesterner) put in the recycle-ables before I could even take a pic!

I was inspired, however, to use my Star Wars rub ons to do this Star Wars in Concert Layout...and yes, I did actually use 12 separate pictures for the left page! BTW-trying to figure out what picture to cut from the layout was part of my delay posting this week.  Finally, I decided to use them all!

Question of the week from Crisann the Fabulous, is this: Are you enjoying the process of the Organization Challenge.  Honestly...yes.  The griping that goes on is part of the catharsis, and the fact that it is really just easier to complain and lament work, than to say "yeah, sure that was totally easy".  We all know that person and subconsiously hate her.  I have accomplished more in this 11 weeks than I ever though that I could.  Fabulous Spouse is actually impressed, and more involved than I thought he would be.  Girl Friday is excited and as inspired as a 5 yr old can be, and I really feel like I am claiming a useful space.  (I may even graduate from Procrastinators Annon...never mind.  It will never happen.)

This is my before pic for the stickers.  My main goal was to reduce my stickers so that they all fit into this one Iris case, and to do it quickly before the Inner Hoarder went into a full on massive corinary due to Fraud, Waiste, and Abuse by Girl Friday (who felt that she had won the 5yr old and under Little Girl Lottery).

The rub-ons I kept, even though most of them were crop freebies (to keep Inner Hoarder happy).  The rest went smoothly.  PA Me got OCD Me briefly distracted with the lure of a Crop in Style Sticker Binder, but in the end, just decided to stick with my bin for now (Maybe for 2011?....be quiet OCD Me!).

So, with Girl Friday in th Crafter's version of a sugar coma, I had my stickers and rub ons contained, and another week behind me, and another relatively easy week ahead. (Thank goodness, as Little League Season has started!!!)